Bannerghatta National Park is a 104 square kilometer
zoological park located around 30 minutes South of Bangalore. To get there,
take the Nice Road from Hosur (Rs 30 toll) and Exit at Bannerghatta Road (it is
the next exit and it comes at around the 9KM mark) and drive around 20 minutes
on that road to get to the entrance. There is also excellent public
transportation to the place (BMTC buses 365, 366, 368, and Big-10). The park is
open 9AM to 5PM and closed Tuesdays.

The main activities available at the park are the safari,
the zoo, and the butterfly park. The overall facility is pretty well organized.
We got there around 9:15AM and got the Grand Safari plus Zoo tickets (Rs 210).
Although they say the park opens at 9AM, the first Safari doesn’t leave until
after 9:45AM. Thankfully, there are waiting sheds provided. Also, it is to your
advantage to be among the first to arrive - the animals are caged at the end of
the day and so you get to see them when they are released for the day, if you
are in the first batch of buses.

The safari buses are seating only - the windows have grills
but there are openings to put a camera and/or binoculars. The front of the bus
have wider grill-less windows but that place is usually blocked off - sometimes
the helper (‘kili’) will offer someone a seat there but the expectation is that they
will give a good tip - Rs 500/- is the usual solicitation but you can bargain
it down. The large area that the safari takes you through is fenced in and
there are entry/exits to different portions of the safari (lion safari, tiger
safari, bear safari etc). It takes about an hour as they stop whenever they see
animals. They also have a more private safari in a jeep . For us, the highlight was the great sight of a bunch of happy-looking lions running
into the forest when they were released. Also saw white tiger, bears, deers, etc.

On the way back, they dropped us off at the Butterfly park -
the tickets (Rs 30) can be purchased from there as well. The main facility is
an enclosed glass house with plenty of flowering plants and butterflies. There
is a breeding center adjacent to it (restricted entry). Also, the Butterfly
park grounds have plenty of butterflies as well - you can spend a good half
hour here.

The zoo is also very well organized and covers an area of 12
hectares at the moment, although there are expansion plans for another 28
hectares. It hosts over 1400 animals belonging to over 70 species. The complex
also has a museum, auditorium, and an animal hospital (no access for visitors)
inside the premises. Prominent animals on display include cayman crocodiles,
panthers, hog deer, a good variety of exotic birds, etc. They also occasionally
have feeding time, demonstrations, and such - we got to pet a baby elephant!
Also, the albino peacock was a first for us.

Not everything was perfect at the park when we visited:
Parking was not that well organized, ticketing areas were chaotic, restroom
facility was well below par, and there were no restaurant options to speak of
(Hotel Vanashree Mayura is next to the entrance but did not look appealing).